British naturalist Steve Backshall has been confirmed as the closing keynote speaker for this year’s Funds Forum.
Steve is a BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert boasting an impressive TV career with popular franchises such as Deadly 60 and more recently with Sky Nature for his new series ‘Whale with Steve Backshall’.
In 2022, Steve was the lead presenter for BBC One’s ‘Our Changing Planet’, the launch of a ground-breaking definitive seven-year diary, documenting the fight to save our planet’s most threatened ecosystems. In 2021, ‘Shark with Steve Backshall’ saw him dive with many species of sharks, helping to debunk the myth that all sharks are dangerous.
Outside of his TV career, Steve has published 13 books, the most recent of which was co-written with his wife, the double gold Olympic medal winner Helen Glover.
Steve is also a proud ambassador for The Scouts, Movember and the Get Outside champion for Ordinance Survey. He is also a brand ambassador for the Sky Zero Environmental Campaign. In 2020 Steve was awarded the title of Honorary Lecturer at Bangor University and in 2019, Steve was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours for services to charity and wildlife conservation.
The theme of this year’s Funds Forum is the future of funds and the format this year will be slightly different to previous forums.
Attendees will have the opportunity to take part in a series of masterclass sessions which will provide insight into how various funds can be established from Guernsey. Following this will be two panel sessions, the first of which will look at first-time funds managers and emerging asset classes, while considering the associated risks and rewards. The second panel will discuss the topic of fund distribution and the hurdles that are faced in different geographic regions.
“Funds Forum is our flagship event for the funds industry and we are delighted that we have confirmed Steve as our keynote speaker,” said Chief Executive Rupert Pleasant.
“Steve brings unique insight into the challenges we face with regard to mitigating climate change and conserving the natural world. These are challenges where Guernsey, as a force for global good, plays a part in addressing through the Guernsey Green Fund and the ground-breaking Natural Capital Fund.
“With his first-hand experience of the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, I am very much looking forward to hearing Steve’s address in addition to our expert financial services panellists.”
The Funds Forum takes place in London on Thursday 11 May. Sponsored by Carey Olsen and JTC. Further information about the event is available here: https://www.weareguernsey.com/finance-events/2023/guernsey-funds-forum-2023/
